Lever-control mechanism



' A. H. GLEDHILL.

LEVER CONTROL MECHANISM.

- APPLICATION FILED DEC. 13, 1918.

UNITED STATES ARTHUR HENRY .GLEDHILL, o HALIrAX, ENGLAND.

LEVER-CONTROL- MECHANISM.

7 Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 27, 1921,

Application filed December 13, 1918. seri'arno. 266,601.

To all whom it may concern Be it known thELt'L'AR THUR HENRY GLED- HILL,a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Trinity WVorks,Halifax, in the county of York, England, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Lever- Control Mechanism, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to control mechanism' of the kind in which theposition of a lever is controlled by-means of a slotted gate plate, thechief object of the present invention being to provide a form ofapparatus of this class which will automatically cause the lever whenpulled to stop in successive positions and so relieve the operator fromall responsibility in guiding the lever into a holding notch or recessfor effecting such purpose, the arrangement being such that the levercan also be moved completely through the gate in either directionwithout stopping at an intermediate position when required.

According to this invention a lever or sliding member passes through azigzag or serrated slot and is normally actuated in a lateral directionin relation to such slot by a spring or weight, the arrangement beingsuch that when the lever is moved through the length of the firstoblique or slanting portion of the slot it comes to rest against thetransverse portion of the next serration and on being released thespring or weight moves it in a lateral direction through a transverseslot into line with the next oblique or slanting slot, in which positionit can be moved to its second position, that is to say until it contactswith the transverse portion of the second serration, the lever or memberwhen released returning into line with the third oblique or slantingslot and so on throughout the number of serrations in the plate. To movethe lever from one end to the other of the gate without stopping it atany intermediate portion, a lateral pressure is exerted upon it by theoperator during its traversing movement. The transverse portions of theserrations at opposite sides of the slot advantageously overlap oneanother to prevent the lever or member being accidentally moved throughmore than one step at a time.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation and Fig. 2 anend elevation of a form of control mechanism constructed in' accordancewith this invention.

Figs. 3 and 4: are similar views showing the control lever in differentpositions, and

Fig. 5 is a plan of the slotted plate before the same is bent.

A indicates the lever and B the slotted gate plate.

In the example shown the lever A is pivoted in a slot at in a quadrant awhich may be connected with the apparatus to be controlled by a Bowdenwire or other suitable connection. The free end of the lever passesthrough the zigzag or serrated slot 6 in the gate plate B and a spring aor a weight normally exerts a lateral pressure on the lever A and causesit to bear against one edge of the slot. One end of the spring a isconnected with the lever A, the other end being suitably anchored to thequadrant whereby said spring normally exerts a yieldable lateral pullupon said lever. Presuming the lever to be at the initial end of theslot as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, as soon as it is pulled it turns thequadrant a and moves through the first slot 6 (Fig. 5) until it comes torest against the transverse portion 6 and occupies the position shown inFig. l. The lever is now released and the spring 0& moves it through thetransverse slot 6 into line with the second oblique or slanting slot 6*and so on throughout the whole number of serrations as has already beendescribed. Each transverse portion such as b is advantageously formedwith a slight amount of rake to prevent the lever accidentally slippingoff such portion when re- .ceiving its step by step movement.

By the invention described it is only necessary for the operator toimpart a succession of straight pulls to the lever to insure itsreceiving the desired step by step movement. After each movement itautomati-' cally frees itself from its locked position and becomes readyfor its next movement and no thought is required by the operator todetermine to which side of the slot the lever has to be moved to free itfor its next movement as in the ordinary slotted gate type of control.

To move the lever completely through the gate at one operation in thedirection of the arrow C (Fig. 5) lateral pressure is exerted by theoperator upon the lever during its traversing movement in the directionof the arrow C and to move the lever completely through the gate in theopposite direction lateral pressure is exerted by the operator upon thelever in the direction of the arrow D.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States is In lever control mechanism, the combination of aplate having a slot formed with ratchet teeth at each side, staggered inrelation to one another, to form a continuity of inclined and transversepassages, a quadrant the quadrant in such manner as to be capable ofmoving at right angles to the movement of the quadrant, and a springconnected at one end to the lever, and at the other end to the quadrant.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ARTHUR HENRY GLEDHILL.

WVitnesses: I

G. P. APPLEYARD, A. J. ROBINSON.

